Betty #181
My 9-year-old niece would rather read a chapter of DC Comics’ “Blackest Night” storyline than either Betty or Veronica.
This will probably require a little explanation.
My sister-in-law’s family is staying with us over the weekend. After church yesterday my wife wanted to take them to a Chinese restaurant she knows and then shopping. We drove separately because I needed to do some things back at the house (namely, take a nap while playing Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey on DVD). My niece (let’s call her Emma) came home with me to allow the other folks more time on their own.
On the way, we passed Comic Town on Morse, and I thought I would pop in to see if they had anything I might want. I also wanted to see what Emma would think about such a place, because she’d never been in one but was a big fan of super-hero movies.
Once inside I told her I’d get her a comic book if she found something she liked, and I pushed her toward the kids comics while I checked out the new releases to see if there was anything I hadn’t picked up already. I also looked for the DC Direct History of the DC Universe Blue Devil action figure, but was told they had sold out.
Veronica #196
I should point out at this point what Emma was wearing. We had just gotten out of church and she was wearing a pink & white sweater & skirt combo that would have looked perfectly in place on Olivia Newton-John in the first half of Grease.
Emma and I wandered around the store for about ten minutes in different directions, with Emma asking me what the longboxes in the middle of the store were for, who the White Queen was, stuff like that.
I eventually picked up the latest Marvel Adventures Avengers digest and a copy of Marvel Adventures Super Heroes because I think that line is one of the most underappreciated things being published by either DC or Marvel. Since I was now in the kids’ section, I picked out the most recent issues of Betty and Veronica to see where Emma might fall in the debate between the two. I was guessing she would pick Veronica because fashion is an important part of her life.
I showed Emma the options, and she asked for a little more time to decide.
What she came back with was Green Lantern #45. You know, the “Blackest Night” crossover?” The one with the chick in the pink Borat-thong cut down to her pelvis on the cover? The one about the impending space zombie invasion? Yeah, that's the one that the little girl in the frilly pink dress picked out for herself.
Green Lantern #45
I flipped through it to re-familiarize myself with it, just in case there was something on the first read. I even looked for the stamp of the Comics Code Authority on the cover, and there wasn’t one.
Ultimately, I decided I might let my own kid read it if I expected him or her to get into the series or the hobby regularly. But since A) this wasn’t my kid; B) I’d have to spend more time explaining things to her than she would spend reading it; and C) there is exactly zero chance of her getting into the hobby at this time for a number of factors, I decided Green Lantern might not be the best choice for her at this time.
I was able to talk her down to X-Men Forever #6, which may be just as convoluted as "Blackest Night," but at least it has characters she recognizes.
I asked her on the way home why she picked Green Lantern, and she said, “I liked the girl's [Star Sapphire] costume and her powers.” When I asked her why she didn’t choose either Betty or Veronica, she shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know. They looked boring, I guess.”
Sure this just anecdotal, but it’s just another example of how kids’ tastes today are more mature and refined than they were 30, 20 or even 10 years ago.
On the other hand, she’s in the other room right now watching The Next Karate Kid on DVD.
It was either that or Alien.
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